If you buy your next home before your current one sells, two numbers decide whether it works: your peak debt and your end debt. This works out both, including Victorian stamp duty.
Enter an interest rate above to see the cost.
This is the question worth asking before you bid, not after.
| Sale price | You receive | End debt | End LVR |
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When you buy before you sell, your lender doesn't give you two separate loans and hope for the best. It funds the whole position — your existing loan plus everything needed to settle the new place — and treats it as one debt secured against both properties. That combined figure is your peak debt.
When your current home sells, the net proceeds come straight off that balance. What's left is your end debt, and it's the number that matters most, because that's the mortgage you'll be paying for the next twenty or thirty years. A bridging loan that looks frightening at peak can leave a very comfortable end debt — and the reverse is also true.
Your current loan balance, plus the purchase price of the new home, plus stamp duty and costs, less any cash you put in. It's measured against the combined value of both properties, which is why the loan-to-value ratio during the bridging period is usually lower than people expect.
Peak debt less the money you actually receive from the sale — after the agent's commission and selling costs, not the headline sale price. That gap surprises people, so the calculator above deducts it for you.
Interest is charged on the full balance for as long as you hold both properties. Several major lenders require you to pay that interest monthly during the bridging period, and will want to see you can afford it — either from income or from savings set aside for the purpose. Others add the interest to the loan instead, which costs more overall because you end up paying interest on interest. Which approach applies depends entirely on the lender, and it's one of the first things worth pinning down.
It isn't always. If your current home is genuinely close to sold, aligning the two settlement dates can achieve the same outcome for nothing. If you're buying at auction, a longer settlement is sometimes negotiable and costs less than a bridge. Where a deposit is the only real hurdle, a deposit bond may do the job. And if the sums only work on an optimistic sale price, the honest answer is usually to sell first and rent for a few months — less exciting, far less risk.
Working out which of those fits your situation is the actual job, and it's the conversation worth having before you fall in love with a property.
Send through what you're planning and I'll work through your position — including which lenders will actually do it, and what it should cost.
This calculator provides general information only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not tax, financial or legal advice, and it is not a loan quote, an offer of finance, or an indication of a rate available to you. Results are estimates based on the figures you enter and on simplified assumptions — they exclude lender fees, valuation and application costs, mortgage registration fees, settlement adjustments and lenders mortgage insurance, and they assume bridging interest is paid monthly rather than added to the loan. Victorian land transfer duty is estimated using published State Revenue Office rates current at the time of writing and may not reflect concessions, exemptions or surcharges that apply to you — including first home buyer concessions and foreign purchaser additional duty. Bridging finance, interest rates, terms, loan-to-value limits and eligibility are subject to individual lender policy, assessment and approval. Figures should be confirmed with your broker or lender before you rely on them or make a commitment. Navigator Broking arranges credit only. Lenders pay us a commission that can vary between lenders and products; under Best Interests Duty we must recommend what is in your interests regardless of that difference, and we disclose the commission for any loan we recommend.